John Meader's house and the houses of others in the Dover, New Hampshire area in the late 1600's were known as garrisons. They were constructed to fight off Indian attacks. One such semi-famous Indian attack occurred in 1694 and was known as the Oyster River Massacre. John Meader and his family were able to see other garrison's burning and were able to escape. Supposedly their garrison was burned down but quickly rebuilt. The picture is of what remains of a garrison.